Let Palin Be Palin

I'll say it again; every time Palin opens her mouth, she reveals that she's a true Republican, gullible and authoritarian and so self-deluded that she routinely makes major campaigning mistakes in public.

From Think Progress:

I have, one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years who happens
to be gay. And I love her dearly. And she is not my “gay friend.” She is one of
my best friends who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I
have made. But I am not gonna judge people. And I love America where we are more tolerant than other countries are. And are more accepting of some of these
choices that sometimes people want to believe reflects solely on an individual’s
values or not. Homosexuality, I am not gonna judge people.

She is trying to say the right thing the right way but can't, because she actually believes what she is saying. Instead of sounding sincere but non-committal, using dog-whistle words instead of frank acknowledgement of wingnut positions, she repeats what she's been told in fundamentalist circles. We are letting Palin be Palin, and it's a disaster.

Moderates don't want to hear about judging gays or choosing orientation. Fundamentalists don't want to hear about acceptance. Gays don't want to hear about more straights who judge them on their love life. Foreigners don't want to hear about how tolerant we are. And of course liberals in general don't want this fundamentalist anywhere near our beloved Constitution.

Our elite despises the Heartland fundamentalists; that's why they accuse the other side of doing the same thing so vociferously. The poor go to ugly churches and wear cheap clothes and have teeth and hair that don't shine as brightly as the elite's. They don't go to dinner parties and drink expensive wine and call important people by their first names. They are Other, and the elite--which is neither Democratic nor Republican, it is just very rich--hate them.

John McCain made a very, very big mistake.

Why did this fool choose Palin? I think that McCain, who almost entirely owes his career to luck, privilege, rank and expediency, chose the woman who would reflect best upon himself. He actually picked the prettiest girl in the room to stand by his side, so he'd be the BMOC. He could have picked one of a dozen older, less attractive conservative women to become vice-president. It's utterly astonishing in its vanity, hubris and disregard for country, party and colleagues. He's going to make DC and New York bow down before a lower-class young beauty queen from the hicks with no commiserate qualifications. Palin will sit in Dick Cheney's office with Dick Cheney's laws and Dick Cheney's budget and Dick Cheney's personnel, and there is nothing that will be able to stop her.